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Monday, 26 June 2017

As I reach the
end of my teacher training, I’ve started to reflect on how far I’ve come.
Deciding to apply for teacher training was a big step for me and I’ve had to overcome
many challenges since starting but as the end draws nearer, I can see that it’s
all been worthwhile.

I applied for
teacher training whilst working as a Library Manager at an Upper School in
Bedfordshire. I took the job straight after graduating with the hope of it
leading to a teaching career. I spent the next two years in that job veering
from one emotional extreme to the other; yes I was totally committed to working
in education, no I absolutely did not want to work in education, and back and forth
etc. This rollercoaster of emotions hasn’t abated since starting my training –
you have days where you wonder if you’re really cut out for this, and then the
next day you’re dancing around in front of your year 9s (as I am want to do)
feeling pretty smug about how good you are at your job. I’m reliably informed
that this feeling never really goes away either, but half the time, the
excitement of not knowing what will happen next is what gets me out of bed each
morning. And when you’re working with young people, you never can predict the
outcome…

“We are in the
business of changing lives” a colleague told me, and he’s right, but changing
lives isn’t easy. What eventually made me commit to applying for teacher
training was my need for a new challenge, and teaching provides you with new
challenges on a daily basis. The first two years in teaching are the hardest,
so if you can make it through this then you’ll be ready for anything. It’s OK
to question if this is the right job for you, even after you start your
training. Training is hard but your mentors and colleagues want you to become
the best teacher you can possibly be so it’s always in your best interests to
listen to the feedback they give and act upon it. If, in your darkest hours,
you can still hold your head up and make it through the day, then you’re going
to be fine. In fact, you’re probably going to be more than fine.

Ultimately what
strikes me most about my training year is how far I’ve come in such a short
space of time. I am a totally different teacher now to the one who started
teaching only 9 months ago. The amount of progress you make in such a short
space of time is staggering, and you will continue to grow and develop as a
teacher every year in your job. That’s the beauty of teaching; you can never
stop learning and you can never stand still (sometimes very literally when
teaching a class of 30 eager year 7s!) Best advice I can give? Expect the
unexpected and you’ll be prepared for anything.

Monday, 19 June 2017

As I come to
the end of my teacher training, I’ve taken the opportunity to reflect on my
experience of moving from being a teaching assistant (TA) to becoming a
qualified teacher. As this is a transition which many teachers have made, I
thought that I would share some helpful things to bear in mind when making the
jump. As a TA, you’ve already shown that you can offer a great deal to the
children you work with, so with the right support, there’s no reason you can’t
become a fantastic teacher.

A new role

As a TA, you
get a daily look at how teachers work. This means that you’re uniquely
positioned to learn more about the path you’re about to embark on. The role of
a teacher differs from that of a TA, and it’s worth taking this opportunity to
speak to the teachers in your school, or any friends or relatives you have who
are teachers, about how.

What does their day look
like?

What responsibilities would
you have as a teacher that you don’t currently have? This will also give you a
better idea of which areas you could focus on when you begin your teacher
training.

Do you have experience of
whole class teaching?

How confident would you feel
about planning a lesson?

Don’t worry if
you’ve not got experience in these areas, the whole point of your training is
to learn and practice new things, but it’s important to bear in mind that these
are the skills which will make up your practice as a teacher.

Which route is right?

While anyone
who wants to work in a school run by a local authority needs to have Qualified
Teacher Status (QTS), there are now many ways to achieve this.

One-year
university-based PGCE courses for those who already have a degree.

School-based
Teach First courses for those with degrees with first class honours.

Three-year
university-based ITE courses, for which you don’t necessarily need a degree.

With all of
these available routes into teaching, it’s important to work out which one is
right for you. While it’s tempting to go for whichever route would get you to
QTS the quickest, your training is invaluable, so it’s important to make sure
that your chosen route meets your needs.

Are you someone who has a wealth
of work experience, but would like to learn more about the theories and ideas
behind teaching?

Do you already have a degree,
but lack confidence in how you would manage your own classroom?

Most people
fall somewhere in the middle, so it’s important to research what each training
route involves. It may be useful to talk to the teachers in your school. What
type of teacher training did they do, and which aspects of their training have
they found helpful? If you choose a university based route, open days allow you
to talk to the academics who would oversee your training, so that you can get a
better picture of which route is the right one for you.

How to make the most of your training

If you’ve
gotten to grips with the role of a teacher, chosen a training route, and
applied for your course, now you’ve reached the fun part; the training itself.
This is your opportunity to make the most of your time, and ensure that, at the
end of the process, you are confident in the classroom. Many teacher training courses
offer you a number of choices; you might specialise in a subject, you might be
offered a placement in a specific type of school such as a school for children
with special educational needs, there might be volunteering opportunities. This
is your chance to go outside of your comfort zone and experience something you
may not have before, or work on something you find difficult.

The great thing
about your training is that you have the freedom to experiment, and concentrate
on becoming the best teacher you can be. It’s important to remember that, as a
trainee, no one’s expecting perfection. If you work hard, care about the
children you work with, and apply yourself, you’ll be doing a great job.

Wednesday, 14 June 2017

The UKCAT (UK Clinical Aptitude Test) is a test used in the selection process by the majority of UK university medical and dental schools.

It is a 2 hour, computer-based test, which is sat in Pearson VUE test centres across the UK and worldwide. The test consists of 5 separately timed subtests which are designed to test the cognitive abilities, attitudes, and behaviours considered to be valuable for healthcare professionals.

Who needs to sit the UKCAT?

Most UK universities require applicants to medicine and dentistry courses to sit an admissions test in addition to their other entry requirements.

You can only take the test once each year, so make sure you use the official preparation materials on our website. There are over 1,000 free practice questions available throughout our practice tests and other materials.When do I need to book?

Your first step is to register via the UKCAT website. Registration is open now and closes on 19th September 2017.

You then need to book and sit your test any time between 3rd July and 3rd October 2017. Bursaries to cover the full test fee are available for eligible UK and EU students.

Using your UKCAT result

You will receive your UKCAT result as soon as you have tested. Scoring and marking are explained in full on the UKCAT website.

There is no pass or fail, however different universities may use your results in different ways depending on their entry requirements. You are advised to check the individual entry requirements for the universities you are applying to before you submit your UCAS application.

Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to keep up to date with the latest information.

Friday, 9 June 2017

I want to share with you my journey into teaching. An honest version of this journey because in this career you will face different challenges to any other career you undertake. Never doubt however that this is the best undertaking you will ever have.

My name’s Pran and I’m currently a Lead Practitioner in an inner London academy. The son of two immigrant parents, one from the West Indian state of Gujrat and the other hailing from the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

After graduating from the University of Birmingham with a Bachelor of Science in Physics, I flittered from a variety of career options until, by chance, I ended up supporting in a secondary school for a day. At this point for me it clicked. I’m changing lives and getting paid for it, does it get any better than this?

Born in a typically British Asian household I was always pushed to excel; be successful in every aspect of my life from academia to career. The day I told my father I wanted to be a school teacher, he looked down, disappointed. I'm pretty sure he cursed under his breath in Gujrati. “Why have you worked so hard? Don’t you want to be a REAL success?” he asked.

Real success in our household, like many BAME would experience, meant careers of high money and status. My response at the time was that I just wanted to make a difference and cause ripples of good karma in the world (I thought I’d sweeten him up with a bit of our culture).

Undeterred I went to a secondary state school in Wolverhampton for my teacher training. This was hands down the best experience of my twenties. It felt like I was bettering the community that raised me.

During my NQT year on our food shopping trips in our local town centre, week after week I was greeted with "Sir! Sir!" This was the moment my father recognised the value of what I do; when he finally told me how proud he was and saw that my success wouldn’t be measured in just money, but in the commodity of deeds.

This is my core purpose. The reason I teach is to serve the pupils in my care; to give them the best possible start in life regardless of their background. This I have taken with me to every lesson in every classroom I have ever taught in. When you choose to teach, choose your core purpose and it will serve you well through the years of your career.

Teaching has taken me to three continents and now to the hustle and bustle of the capital. I have given students a taste of culture similar in some cases but very different to the stereotypes in others. I am the purveyor of so much more than a curriculum. More than this I would say teaching has taken me to back to myself, my true calling and a place I call home.

In recent years I have developed myself as an educational leader to extend my impact on pupils to outside my classroom and outside my school. Last year I achieved my NPQSL (National Professional Qualification in Senior Leadership) with a focus on Teaching and Learning coaching.

My focus is about impacting on as many teachers’ practice as I can, then in turn this will impact on as many pupils as possible. My ultimate aim is to lead a school and propagate my vision to teachers and pupils alike.

To get there I will continue to use those sources of support that have taken me to this point now. One of these has been #BAMEed network. There is currently inequity between ratios of BAME pupil to BAME teachers and senior leaders. As such the support of others to engage more BAME into the profession is as important as the support to keep them positively progressing.

I work with the BAMEed network to ensure our diverse communities are represented as a substantive part of the education workforce for teachers and leaders in education. Fundamentally it’s about making school leadership reflect the communities they serve and letting our students see the leaders they want to be.

When you decide to join us in this fantastic career then do join our network. That is ALL you, all colours of the rainbow including you wonderful allies. Diversity benefits us all.

Monday, 5 June 2017

If you’re thinking about taking a social science degree course, you might be interested to know that there are some specialist programmes which combine social science and quantitative skills.

So, what are quantitative skills, and what’s different about these courses? We asked Dr Simon Gallacher, Head of Student Programmes at the Nuffield Foundation.

What are quantitative skills?
‘Put simply, these give you the ability to handle data and use numerical evidence – essentially, how to design and undertake your own research using data to help you get to the heart of challenging questions. This means you can design surveys and experiments, then analyse and interpret different types of data, and learn how best to use this evidence to make decisions. The key thing is, it’s using data which can help us answer some important questions.’

So, can you tell us more about the social science and quantitative skills degrees?
‘They’re called Q-Step degrees and are a new kind of social science degree that enable you to ask the important questions about society, why people behave as they do, and give you the necessary skills to answer them.’

So, social scientists are interested in finding the answers to questions such as:

why does life expectancy vary depending on where you live?

why do opinion polls sometimes get it wrong?

what is the link between family background and educational attainment?

You can study for a Q-Step degree at 18 leading universities across the UK, in social science subjects ranging from area studies, to political science, to sociology. All these degrees include developing your quantitative skills – in other words, your ability to handle data and use numerical evidence. These skills are invaluable in today’s job market.

What will I learn?
Courses vary depending on the subject and university, but on a Q-Step degree programme, you could learn how to:

design surveys and experiments – essentially, how to design and undertake your own research

analyse and interpret different types of data, such as social media data, survey data, government data, and longitudinal data

evaluate the quality of data and analysis, and learn how best to use evidence to make decisions

Many Q-Step degrees offer work placements, which will enable you to gain experience of using data to answer big questions about people, their behaviour, and the circumstances in which they live. A range of employers offer placements, from think tanks, to marketing agencies, and research institutes. Q-Step students make a positive difference to the work of their host employers, including authoring published reports, presenting to international audiences, and even giving evidence to parliamentary committees.

What do Q-Step students say?
‘My Q-Step internship at Ipsos Mori gave me the opportunity to apply and develop the knowledge I had gained in the first two years of my degree. I then embarked on a quantitative dissertation in my third year. My Q-Step experiences were a huge contributing factor in my selection for a graduate role at [leading professional services firm] PwC.’
Amy Abbate, Q-Step graduate

‘The focus on quantitative methods allows you to start a different conversation with employers – one about politics as an exciting, forward-thinking, and data-driven degree. As a student competing to get a job at a top company, it has really helped me stand out from other applicants and to secure my position as Marketing Executive for [customer acquisitions company] MVF Global.’
James Potter, Q-Step graduate

Some providers may change your status to a changed course offer. If this happens, you’ll see something like this in Track.

If this happens, don’t panic! It means one of your choices has offered you a changed course offer.

This could be a change to the course, the start date, or the point of entry.

Why has my offer changed to an unconditional changed course?
The most likely reason is that you didn’t meet the conditions of your original choice but the university or college wants to offer you an alternative course.

If you have any questions or concerns about the change, you’d need to speak to the uni or college to find out why they’ve made this change.

How do I respond to the unconditional changed course offer?
You can only reply to an unconditional changed course offer once BOTH your firm and insurance have a Confirmation decision. How you respond will depend on which choice has changed. 1. If your firm choice offer has been updated to unconditional changed course
You can accept it now if you’re happy with the change. If your insurance offer has been confirmed and you decline a firm choice that is now an unconditional changed course offer, your insurance choice will become your firm.

2. If your insurance choice has been updated to unconditional changed course
You’ll have to wait to see if your firm choice confirms you. If you’re placed at your firm choice, you won’t be able to accept your insurance place. If you’re unsuccessful at your firm, you’ll be able to respond to the unconditional changed course offer at your insurance choice.How long do I have to reply?
Once you have a final decision from both your firm and insurance choice, you’ll have five days to reply.

Need some help with your results? Take a look at the advice on ucas.com or get in touch with our advisers on Facebook or Twitter.

Friday, 2 June 2017

Anyone who wants to be a teacher should know this: getting behaviour right from the start is one of the most important things you can do. If you hope they'll behave, good luck. Maybe they will. Maybe some will. And maybe they won't and you'll need to know what to do. In-school training can be patchy. If you're lucky you'll find a school that knows how to train you in the craft of classroom management. Or maybe you won't; maybe your training schools will be civil and ordered and you won't see what it is that makes that happen.

I investigated behaviour training in 2015 for the Department for Education, and in 2016 we published our guidelines about what a new teacher should know in order to be 'classroom ready'. Running a room isn't a small part of our jobs - it's an essential component. Without good behaviour, learning is massively impeded. Don't believe those who tell you a noisy classroom is a learning classroom - it normally isn't and what learning there could be is impeded by distraction and chaos.

So what do you need to know and be able to do? We boiled it down to three areas:

1. Routines
These are your main super power. Students need to know what they are expected to do in the classroom and corridor. Don't expect them to know, or if they do, to do it. They need to know what you want them to do. That means laying down some tram lines for them. Think of every behaviour they perform in the classroom. What ones do you want them all to do, the same every time (pretty much)? Take entering the classroom. Do you want them to line up? In pairs? A queue? Do you want them to come straight in? Do they hang their coats up? Do they sing a song? It doesn't matter - what matters is that there is a routine, and that they know what it is. And if they don't do it, practice it until they get it right. That way they start to form habits, and habits become part of them. And that means they behave the way they need to behave, without thinking. And that means you save time and head space to think about the things you want them to think about- the learning. Routines are the foundation of good behaviour. They take time to communicate and imbed. But nothing is worth your time more.

2. Responses

Routines help to build your classroom. But no routines are bullet proof. Things will go wrong. What will you do? There are only a finite number of things that normally go wrong in a classroom. So rather than simply what for things to break before you fix them, ask yourselves, 'How will I deal with this situation when it happens?' What will you do when someone comes in late? What will you say? Loosely script your responses so you don't have to think on the spot. Know your school consequence system inside out. What are the sanctions and rewards? What are the lines they can't cross, or should reach for? The school system is your ally here, so use it.

3. Relationships
This is the hardest part: how to build relationships with students. It takes time with some students; with some it takes years. But the magic trick...well, there is no trick. But if you work on (1) and (2) above then (3) starts to happen. It is rarely (maybe never) achieved directly. You cannot make children respect or heed you or view your directions with value. But you can build it over time if you are reliable, resolute, obviously care about them academically and as people, but are stubborn enough to be consistent and retain high expectations wherever happens. Don't try to curry favour with children. Don't bribe them; don't fawn or beg them to behave. Build a culture where they want to behave. Be the teacher.

New teachers frequently walk into schools that are less than perfect, teaching children who are less than perfect. Once we acknowledge that we start to understand that school systems sometimes have to be made to work. But the good news is that with patience and hard work, teachers can make a huge impact with every child. And that starts with good behaviour. It's the invisible curriculum that we can't afford to ignore.

Tom

Tom Bennett is the founder and director of researchED. He currently advises the Department for Education on behaviour policy, recently leading the ITT behaviour review group, and independent report on behaviour in schools. A former teacher and TES columnist, he’s written a number of books on education and teaching including The Behaviour Guru and Not Quite a Teacher. Follow him on Twitter @tombennett71

If you liked this…

It’s one of a series of blogs to help make your introduction to teacher training a little easier. Get up-to-speed with some of the topics you’re likely to encounter in your training: